Application sharing is a useful tool for allowing a user to share and view another user's application and desktop. Typically, a shared application or document is running on a sharer client, which is a host computer that feeds the shared content to a network. The shared content is then viewed remotely by one or more viewer clients, which receive the shared content over a network connection.
Remote desktop protocol (RDP) is a multi-channel protocol that enables users to connect to a networked computer, and is typically used for application and/or desktop sharing. The RDP packets are exchanged by tunneling, as used in accordance with the real-time transport protocol (RTP) which defines a standardized packet format for Internet delivery of audio and video content.
For signaling in application sharing, a problem exists in negotiating support for multiple media types. In a network that exchanges RDP packets, the server component of a web access viewer client cannot process or support the RDP natively. In those scenarios, the server component of the web access client can only support certain formats, for example, MIME formats such as JPEG. However, clients residing on the network can support RDP natively in both the sharer or viewer role. Thus, the client cannot receive unsupported content from an application sharing multipoint control unit if unable to support or process RDP natively.
In another problem, during a multiparty application sharing conference, there can be only one sharer though there can be multiple viewers. The roles of sharer and viewer are defined for each client at the beginning of an application sharing session. However, current systems do not allow multiple sharers in the same session. In order for viewers to view an application from a different sharer, a new application sharing session is established, which entails additional effort.